Dark Ride

by P. G. Kassel

  Marty let go of him. He was right. Without looking back at Sabnock Marty walked past the small crowd that had frozen their own lives in the hopes of witnessing some violence.

  "It's okay, everybody," Stevie said from behind him. "No worries, just a little misunderstanding."

  And then came the ugly, hollow voice of Sabnock, slicing through the noise of the park like a knife. "See you again soon, Mr. Wedlow. See you again soon."

  Marty retreated back to the edge of the bumper cars and positioned himself where he could see the exit of the dark ride. He was already calming down. Stevie's surprising logic had helped with that. And when the blonde and her friend reappeared from the ride and walked through the exit he felt a lot better. Seeing her again rekindled his excitement.

  The girls made their way back to the pier where they headed directly for the Banana Train ride. They got in line, and again Marty let a few riders get between them before joining the line with Stevie. He was closer to them this time and he heard the blonde's friend call her 'Carrie.' He liked the sound of it. Yeah, Carrie was a nice name.

  Once they'd ridden the Banana Train the girls headed to the end of the pier and got in line for the roller coaster there. Stevie was jazzed to get another coaster ride into the day. As for Marty, he was feeling excited that he was becoming more comfortable around the girls.

  The pier coaster shook up his senses. The speed of the ride colliding with the cool air blowing in from the sea was exhilarating. As he followed the girls off the ride he again felt a new energy in him, a new confidence.

  The girls stepped to the side of the thoroughfare, stopping to talk. They're figuring out what they're gonna do next, Marty thought. And then the Latina girl noticed him and Stevie standing there. She said something to the blonde, and then the blonde looked. She looked right at him, her big, blue eyes taking him in from head to toe. She quickly turned back to her friend, they exchanged a few words, and then began walking again, giggling together as they went.

  "They made us," Stevie said, a little dismayed.

  "Nah, this is what’s supposed to happen," Marty reassured him.

  It was what he'd been waiting for. He'd made a connection with her. Now it'd be easy to approach her, strike up a conversation.

  The girls moved along the pier, heading back towards the shore. At the pier's halfway point they veered off to the side and sat down on one of the benches next to the observation railing. Marty scanned the area and quickly found what he was looking for. It was perfect.

  With Stevie following along, Marty stepped up to the ice cream stand.

  "Yeah, three double cones," Marty told the guy manning the concession. "One chocolate, one strawberry, one vanilla."

  "You got it," the ice cream guy responded.

  "You want an ice cream?" Marty asked Stevie.

  Stevie shook his head. "I'm lactose intolerant. Gives me bad gas."

  "Can you put 'em in one of those boxes?" Marty asked the ice cream guy as he put the second scoop on the first cone.

  The guy nodded, slipping the cone into one of the four holes in the top of the cardboard carrying box that held it upright. Marty glanced back at the girls, making sure they were still on the bench. The Latina girl was lighting a cigarette.

  "$9.75," the ice cream guy said, placing the last cone in the box.

  "$9.75," Marty repeated, irritated. "Is this some kind of rare ice cream or something?"

  The ice cream guy just shrugged as he took the money.

  "Wait here," Marty instructed Stevie.

  Doing his best to look casual and confident, Marty carried the box of ice cream cones over to the bench. The girls were chatting and laughing as he approached, and when he was within about ten feet of them they both noticed him.

  "Hi," he greeted them, stepping up beside the bench.

  They exchanged a quick glance and looked up at him with thin, apprehensive smiles.

  "What's up?" the Latina girl said.

  "Not much. I noticed you over at the roller coaster," Marty told them.

  "Yeah, we saw you there," the Latina girl responded, taking a puff on her cigarette.

  He was glad the blonde wasn't smoking. Carrie, her friend had called her. He didn't like girls who smoked.

  "And then I saw you sitting here, and I said to myself, those ladies look like they could use some ice cream."

  They exchanged another glance and he could see they were smiling. He could see they were trying not to smile bigger than they were. He was getting to them.

  "Yeah, thanks anyway," Carrie finally answered, her voice as sexy as he'd imagined it.

  "We got chocolate. We got strawberry. We got vanilla," Marty said. "All the best flavors."

  "My mom told me never to take sweets from strangers," the Latina girl said.

  "I'm Marty. "See, no problem, now we're not strangers.

  The girls were looking at each other again, the same smiles on their lips, their eyes twinkling with some kind of private, chic communication.

  "Come on," Marty urged. "It's just no-strings-attached ice cream. If you don't accept then I'm gonna have to eat all of them myself. You don't want me getting sick, do you?"

  Carrie looked at her friend. "Free ice cream. What the hell," she said.

  He sat down on the bench next to the blonde and extended the box of cones.

  "Which one do you want?" the blonde asked her friend.

  "Vanilla," her friend answered, reaching for the cone.

  "Sweet, 'cause I wanted the strawberry," Carrie said, lifting the cone from the box.

  "That gives me the chocolate," Marty said. "My favorite."

  He could feel the warmth of Carrie’s body next to him. He watched her licking her cone, her pink tongue delicately flicking across the ice cream, sucking thin layers of the treat into her mouth.

  "Whatta you think? Good, huh?" Marty finally said.

  "Yeah, thanks," the Latina girl said.

  "Thanks," Carrie echoed. She looked him over again. "So whatta you doing at Oceanside Park?"

  "What am I doing?" Marty responded. "I'm hanging out with you right now."

  "You don't seem like the amusement park kind of guy?" Carrie observed.

  "What kind of guy am I, then?"

  "Good question," Carrie muttered, returning her attention to the strawberry ice cream.

  "Hey, I'm all about the fun here," Marty said, making sure he sounded charming, and licking away some melting ice cream before it became a mess. "The rides, games, the food... the beautiful women."

  Carrie and her friend exchanged one of those glances again.

  "Hey, I told you my name but you didn't tell me yours," Marty pushed a little.

  The girls suddenly seemed very focused on their ice cream cones.

  "No, we didn't, did we?" Carrie finally giggled.

  Her friend giggled along with her. It bugged him a little but he decided to let it go. The giggling didn't last long and then they all focused on their ice cream in silence for a while.

  "So what's up next?" he finally asked. "I mean, when you finish your ice cream."

  "Hard to say," Carrie said, not bothering to look at him. "We just take it all as it comes."

  "Might be fun if we all hang out for a while," Marty suggested.

  "You think so?" the Latina girl asked.

  Marty shrugged and shot her his most charming smile.

  "You think so?" the Latina girl smiled oddly at her friend.

  "Big fun," Carrie answered.

  Marty thought he heard a little smartass in the girl's tone and when both of them shared one of their exclusive giggles he was sure of it.

  "Hey, I'm just making a suggestion," he told them, trying to disguise how offended he felt.

  "Yeah, I know what you're suggesting," Carrie said with a jaded laugh. "You like 'em young, huh?"

  "Carrie!" her friend laughed uncomfortably.

  "I don't see what the big deal is," Marty answered.

  "Get some glasses," Carrie quipped
.

  She stood up from the bench and her friend with her.

  "You're not leaving already?" Marty asked, rising with them.

  "Oh, yeah," the Latina girl said, finishing the final bite of her cone.

  "Come on, I just thought we could hang out the rest of the night, have some fun," he told them.

  "Yeah?" Carrie responded. "Why'd you think that?"

  The girls abruptly turned and walked away. He heard the giggling begin again and watched as Carrie tossed what remained of her ice cream cone into a nearby trash can. They'd been playing him. He felt his gut wrench as the anger and resentment began to roil inside him. It was their loss, he told himself. It was their loss.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Opportunity Knocks

  Marty finished his third beer of the day and gazed blankly into the thinning crowd of parkgoers. It was shortly after midnight and Oceanside Park was gradually closing down attractions to get everybody out by the 1:00 AM closing time.

  "I hate to see you feeling bad just 'cause those two girls blew you off," Stevie said with genuine sympathy.

  "They didn't blow me off," Marty snapped. "They just had to go, that's all."

  "You've been kind of moping around since they left so I just thought you might be feeling bad," Stevie said.

  "I've got nothing to feel bad about," he lied. "I've never had any problem getting a woman, and there's plenty of them out there."

  It was more than two hours since the two girls had shut him down and it had been eating at him ever since. After wandering the park aimlessly for more time than he cared to admit, he finally planted himself on a stool at the Bavarian Beer Garden, which was really nothing more than a patio facing the sea equipped with umbrellas and a few potted plants. He ordered a beer and had made it last for an hour. Stevie didn't want any alcohol and ordered a Pepsi instead, and even that irritated him.

  The waitress dropped a check in front of him and hurried away without asking them if there'd be anything else.

  "Everybody's in a big hurry to get home," Marty groused.

  "I wouldn't mind leaving," Stevie said, slipping another pill out of his bottle and quickly popping it in his mouth. "Long day."

  "All right," Marty said, placing a few bills on the check and sliding off the stool.

  They left the beer joint and strolled unhurriedly through the park towards the exit, blending in with all the other idiots who'd decided to close down the place. Only a few hours ago Marty had felt like he owned Oceanside Park, but now all he could think about was how he'd managed to blow it again.

  His gut was knotted with frustration. He'd let the blonde distract him, and if that wasn't enough, she'd played him, leading him on and then just walking away. He could still hear her giggling about it, laughing at him as she left him standing there alone on the pier.

  He was mad, mad at himself. Mad that he’d let himself get derailed by the girl. He pissed the whole night away. Instead of searching for more easy marks he spent the time nursing his wounds, distracted by how the blonde had dissed him.

  "The money," Marty said softly.

  "What?" Stevie asked.

  "We've gotta get the money before we leave."

  "Whoa," Stevie said. "I almost forgot."

  "We'll pick it up now," Marty told him.

  "What if the police are still watching the exit?" Stevie asked.

  "Then I'll figure something out, but I'm not leaving it," Marty assured him.

  They changed their direction, heading back towards the kids’ ride with the oversized flower pots. They hadn't gone very far when Marty suddenly stopped. About twenty feet in front of him were the two girls. They were standing still, their eyes fixed ahead of them.

  Stevie followed his gaze and saw the girls.

  "Come on, Marty," he said. "Let's just keep going."

  But Marty couldn't keep going. He couldn't explain it, but that blonde, Carrie, he just had to stand there and watch her.

  "Marty, come on," Stevie repeated.

  "Just a minute," he said.

  He shifted his position and he finally saw what they were looking at.

  Moving through what was left of the crowd came a big Latino guy in a tee shirt and jeans. His muscular arms were tatted up and he was staring straight at Carrie's friend. She started to fidget nervously the closer he got.

  Marty spotted a closed souvenir stand only a few feet from the girls and headed directly for it.

  "Where're you going?" Stevie asked, his tone anxious.

  "Shut up," Marty answered.

  Stevie reluctantly trailed behind him and in a few seconds they were concealed behind the little stand, both of them doing their best to look like they were just hanging out, perhaps waiting for someone. Marty couldn't risk poking his head around to watch the scene, they were too close, but he could hear well enough.

  "What're you doing here?" the Latina girl said, making it sound like more of a challenge than a question.

  "Looking for you," the guy responded. "I been looking for you all day."

  "You got a lot of nerve comin’ here. I saw you with that girl," the Latina girl said.

  "Ah, come on, Angela, please," the guy pleaded.

  So that was her name.

  "Can't we just talk?" the guy asked.

  "Why don’t you go talk to her?” Angela hissed at him.

  "It's not what you think," the guy almost whined.

  "I'll bet it is," Carrie chuckled.

  Marty didn't hear the guy say anything to that remark, probably a good choice.

  "How'd you find me, anyway?" Angela asked him.

  "I went by Carrie's house. Carrie's mom told me where to find you before she slammed the door in my face."

  "Too bad she didn't slam it on your dick," Angela responded.

  Marty could hear Carrie laugh openly at the remark.

  "You're mad, I get it," the guy said. "You got a reason to be mad."

  There was silence now. The Angela girl must have been surprised by the remark.

  "You really hurt me."

  "I know. I know I did and I'm sorry," the guy said, really working it. "I love you and I'd never wanna do anything to hurt you."

  "I think it’s better you just get lost," Angela told him.

  She still sounded angry but Marty thought the 'I love you' must have thrown a little water on the fire.

  "Look, I was stupid," the guy admitted. "I made a stupid mistake."

  "What? You want me to argue?," Angela sounded snappish again.

  "Come on, let's just talk. Let's get a little food or something and we'll talk," the guy pushed.

  "I wouldn't want your new girlfriend getting all jealous on you," Angela said.

  "She's nothing. I swear she's nothing," the guy answered. "Come on, at least let me explain."

  "That should be good," Carrie chuckled again.

  "Would you just shut it, Carrie," the guy said, sounding frustrated. "Angela, please. You’re so beautiful and I miss you, and I feel like shit about all of it. Let's talk, you know, somewhere in private."

  Marty imagined the guy must've been glancing at Carrie when he said that.

  "Talk about what?" Angela asked, sounding less reluctant.

  "About how stupid I am," the guy answered. "We'll talk about how stupid I am and what a shitty mistake I made, and if you aren't satisfied with what I've said then I'll leave you alone. I'll leave you alone if that's what you want."

  "I don't know," Angela said, her resolve weakening. "What do you think?"

  Marty knew she'd get around to asking Carrie.

  "Your call," Carrie said.

  "Even if I want to I can't go," Angela said. "We came together. I can't leave Carrie here alone."

  "You're okay with it, aren't you, Carrie?" the guy asked.

  "I'm not leaving you," Angela said before Carrie could answer.

  The conversation stalled for several seconds.

  "If you really want to go with him I'll be fine," Carrie finally said. />
  "You sure?" Angela asked, sounding relieved.

  "Yeah, if you want to go talk, go talk," Carrie assured her. "I'm just going to my car and going home, anyway."

  "As long as you're sure," Angela said.

  "Call me tomorrow," Carrie told her.

  Marty could hear footsteps moving away and risked taking a cautious look. Angela and the guy were moving away.

  "Angela," Carrie called out suddenly.

  Marty pulled back behind the concession stand.

  "Make sure your bullshit meter's set on high," Carrie said loudly.

  He heard the footsteps again, and again risked moving to the edge of the wall to take a look.

  The reunited couple was already being swallowed up in the throng of people heading for the exit. Carrie, her back to him, stood watching them go. She rummaged in her handbag for something, and then began walking towards the exit.

  Marty slipped out from behind the stand and followed her. Stevie was quickly at his side, tugging at his arm.

  "Where are you going?" Stevie asked, his tone unhappy, already knowing the answer.

  "Wherever she's going," Marty told him.

  "Marty, no. Why?" Stevie asked.

  "We never got to really know each other, yet."

  Chapter Fifteen

  A Little Stalking

  He had to be more careful than earlier in the evening. There weren't as many people to obscure him from view and he wasn't about to let Carrie see him.

  "I don't think this is a good idea," Stevie whined.

  "What's not a good idea?"

  "Whatever you're thinking about this girl," Stevie replied.

  "You know where the money is, right?" Marty asked him, keeping his eyes on the girl some thirty feet ahead.

  "Sure I do," Stevie responded.

  "You go get it. Make sure nobody sees you," Marty instructed.

  Marty reached into his pants pocket and retrieved his key ring. He quickly slipped off his room key and pushed it into Stevie's palm.

  "Get the money. Take the bus and go straight back to my place. You wait for me there," Marty told him.

  "Let's both go get it... together," Stevie suggested.

  "You wait for me there," Marty repeated. "And I'm warning you, Stevie, you even think about opening that bag before I get back and I'll beat you to death. Understand?"